SDCC: ThinkGeek Bag of Holding – Con-Survival Edition review

“It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this.”

By Amy Nunag

Every veteran con-goer will tell you that the success of your swag accumulation will hinge on your bag. Boy howdy, are they right.

I marked my first year at San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) learning just that. My first two days of pounding the pavement with my last minute backpack left me with red marks on my shoulders from the straps, and a considerable kink in my neck. Then, the heavens opened up, and descending from the clouds was ThinkGeek’s Bag of Holding – Con Survival edition.

To say I was excited about this bag was an understatement. At 13 1/2” tall x 10” wide and 3” deep, this beauty took on Tardis-like properties. The padded main compartment has five pouches and two wickedly sturdy zippers (trust me, I was pulling on those things day and night). The front pouch has four smaller interior pockets as well as a clear vinyl one.

The vinyl pocket was thin enough to use my iPad through, which was something I never thought of needing until I was sitting in the hall H line, jonesing to check my schedule for the rest of the day. Did I fail to mention that the front pocket is hinged? Yes, hinged for those moments you can’t stop right in the middle of the floor, lest you be run over by another Deadpool cosplayer on a unicorn.

Think that’s all? Oh no, this baby keeps coming with the hits. The strap is durable and extendable (20-28 inches) with another cushy shoulder pad. There’s internal grommets so you can run cables from pocket to pocket (saved my life with the battery pack). It has carabiner hooks that swivel -yes, I said swivel- 360 degrees. A wicked sturdy handle, far sturdier than I would’ve ever thought, and TWO insanely important pockets. One is a mesh side pocket for cylindrical acquisitions (can you say poster tube?) and the other side mesh pocket is a water bottle holder!

Lastly, one of my favorite features of this bag is the smooth soft front side that proudly displays “Bag of Holding,” along side a D-20. You can apply patches to the front and dress your bag as you please! To sweeten the pot, every future con you hit up, the Thinkgeek booth will give you a specific con patch to add to your collection. Who can say no to great swag like that?

Now, upon receiving this beauty from the lovely keepers at the Thinkgeek booth at SDCC, I promised myself I would switch out and finish the con with their bag to see if it held up to the hype. I was fairly certain that the fabled Bag of Holding would require me to downsize the number of items I carried but, upon loading, I actually had room left over! What kind of shenanigans is this?! I was elated to find there was extra space in my main pocket -as well as the document pocket on the back- for additional finds. So, off to the con I trekked, the bag of holding my constant. Dare to wager how it held up?

It held up PHENOMENALLY! It was small enough that I wasn’t hitting everyone, but large enough that my items weren’t getting lost. The padding supported me -and my swag- the entire time. When I got tired of slinging it, the grip of the top handle never made me fear that the bag would rip at the seams. My water, though too large for the water bottle pocket, didn’t destroy the hooks that the carabiners hold to.

The ease of access to my iPad, charger, headphones, business cards and fan was nuts! And just when I thought it’d all spill onto the pavement if I opened the front pocket too wide, the hinges also held true. I had only one complaint of this version of the Bag of Holding. My shoulder took a beating from the sling design. Granted, I loaded an additional 15-20 pounds of stuff into the 2 1/2 lb bag, but still, it was a bit rough. Other than that, the was no complaint to be had, just wisdom to be learned for our next outing.

All in all, the Bag of Holding held up great! I can’t believe the space it had for all the thing I brought to my first year at SDCC, plus all the things I picked up while I was there. ThinkGeek really knows how to make a great bag!

At $34.99, you can find your own Thinkgeek’s Bag of holding, in all it’s iterations, by clicking here!